March 5, 2008

Today's Hotness: The Notwist, Mission Of Burma, Yah Mos Def

>> We knew the day would finally come when definitive news about German electropop geniuses The Notwist's new and seventh record would break. But we're never quite prepared for that tingle when you've first received the news and you hear the awesome and you're all "yeah!" So anyway, today is that day. The news is that The Notwist's long, long awaited follow-up to 2002's masterwork Neon Golden is titled The Devil, You + Me, and the set will be issued in North America by Domino in early June. Which according to our calendar means either June 3 or June 10. The Devil, You + Me took almost two years to record (there is a new clip posted at Notwist.com today that shows more of the recording sessions); the sessions also included contributions from a small orchestra called the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, which we surmise is the name of the group of players we noted when we wrote about the recent bubbling-up of Notwist goings-on here. The new set touts eleven new tracks, and the lead-off cut "Good Lies" is already available for free download. "Good Lies" is very similar to the material on Neon Golden, although perhaps it is slightly more guitar-oriented and dense. The electronic flourishes and clicks remain, although they are muted on this track. In fact, there are places where the song almost rocks, in the Bavarian trio's (you'll recall that we reported here that founding drummer Martin Messerschmidt has left the band) typically understated manner. European and UK-based fans will have a number of chances to see the act when it tours in the last week of April and subsequently in small clutches of dates through the end of June. No U.S. tour dates have been disclosed yet.

The Notwist -- "Good Lies" -- The Devil, You + Me[right click and save as][watch the Slang Store here for pre-order info on the import]

>> Have you been watching the Matablog YouTube clips about the mastering of the reissues of the Mission of Burma catalogue? Shizz is fascinating. We guess if you don't believe that the conversion of sound waves to grooves of varying widths in vinyl using archaic analog machines is magic, then perhaps these clips aren't for you. But this is the sort of gearhead stuff we know too little about yet have an insatiable curiosity about. Clip one concerns vinyl mastering; clip two concerns physically cutting the master. If gearhead stuff is not up your alley, why not check out this newly posted video clip of Mission Of Burma performing "Eyes Of Men" in 1979 or 1980 over at KinoDV? Incidentally, it's really amazing how similar young Clint Conley and young, short-haired Robert Smith look. Anyway, the reissues of Signals, Calls & Marches, Vs. and The Horrible Truth About Burma will be released by Matador March 18; you can pre-order the whole lot for $33 from the label right here. We just did, and it felt good.

>> The Swimmers' release isn't the only news out of Philadelphia these days. Post-hardcore rhymers The Yah Mos Def have finally issued their full-length debut Excuse Me, This Is The Yah Mos Def. New Jersey's own My Pal God Records issued the platter Feb. 12, and you can get it from the label here or you can get the radio-ready clean version from EMusic here. We're listening to the seven-song set right now, and it is entirely bananas. It seems like the band has taken to calling itself The YMD, likely for the same reasons that its MySpace page used to keep getting deleted. So folks searching for Excuse Me at EMusic need to search for "The YMD." Exuse Me contains a new version of the simply amazing song "The Beat That Makes The Native Nod;" we've posted a demo version of the track before, and it is so stirring we are posting it again. The version on the album is a little slicker and one of the rappers' delivery has gone pretty heavily in an Adrock direction, which is not entirely unwelcome.

>> Speaking of EMusic, did you know you could download Welsh twee terrorists Los Campesinos!'s Hold On Now, Youngster... over there already, despite the fact the record doesn't street until April 1? Speaking of, Insound.com totally has the hook-up on this record, which is why we just pre-ordered it from them. The online music store is selling for $17 an exclusive double-CD version of Hold On Now, Youngster... that includes on the second disc the The International Tweexcore Underound! EP. And as icing on the cake you'll get an 11x17 poster and some stickers. There are limited quantities of the double-disc version, but Insound isn't saying how limited, so take that for what it is worth. If you hit this link and enter the coupon code "loscampblog10" you'll get the set for 10% off. That 10% doesn't cover more than about half of the shipping charge, but hey, you love Los Campesinos!, right? Fortunately for you the band plays Boston's Paradise Rock Club May 21; tickets go on sale this Saturday at noon.